7.  The applicant was born in 1930 and lives in Marl-Haim, Germany.
8.  In 1974 the applicant, after having worked for ten years as a labourer in Germany, bought land in the Değirmen hamlet of the Çayağzı village, in the Yayladere district of Bingöl and built a house on it. The applicant and his family went to the house each summer. The land was cultivated by Ş.T., who gave half of the annual revenue from the land to the applicant. Ş.T. also lived in the house when the applicant was not there.
9.  In 1994 security forces carried out operations in the region. Gunfire discharged by security forces from helicopters destroyed the roof of the applicant’s house. Thereafter, security forces forcibly evicted Ş.T. from the applicant’s house.
10.  On 8 December 1995 an inhabitant of the hamlet, H.D., informed a relative of the applicant living in İstanbul, S.G., that the applicant’s house had been burned down. S.G. subsequently informed the applicant about the destruction of his property.
11.  On 14 December 1995 the applicant went to the hamlet and saw that his house and its contents had been burned. He took photographs and made a video recording of his house. He was informed by the mayor of the village (muhtar), H.T., and by other villagers that there had been clashes between security forces and terrorists near the hamlet and that two days after the clashes his house had been burned down because it had been used by terrorists.
12.  On 10 January 1996 the applicant filed a petition with the Public Prosecutor’s office in Istanbul for submission to the Public Prosecutor’s office in Bingöl. He requested an investigation into the destruction of his house and its contents by security forces.
13.  The applicant did not pursue any further domestic remedy.
14.  Subsequent to the receipt of the applicant’s petition concerning his request for an investigation, the Bingöl Chief Public Prosecutor declined jurisdiction ratione loci and sent the applicant’s petition to the Yayladere Public Prosecutor’s office.
15.  On 31 December 1996 the Yayladere Chief Public Prosecutor issued a decision of non‑jurisdiction stating that the impugned incident should be investigated by the Chief Public Prosecutor at the Diyarbakır State Security Court since it concerned a terrorist act. The Public Prosecutor noted that the applicant’s house had been destroyed during clashes between terrorists and security forces. He noted however that the perpetrators could not be identified.
16.  The local authorities carried out an investigation into the destruction of the applicant’s house. In this respect, on 25 February 1998 gendarmes from the Yayladere Central Gendarme Command went to the applicant’s hamlet to carry out a survey of the scene of the incident. After having viewed the state of the applicant’s house, the gendarmes drew up a scene of incident report. They noted that the roof of the applicant’s house had been destroyed, wooden parts of the house had been burned, the walls were in good condition and the house was empty. They further noted that the house had been destroyed during clashes between the security forces and terrorists in the region.
17.  On 25 February 1998 the Yayladere Central Gendarme Station Commander took statements from the inhabitants of the applicant’s village. The mayor of the village, (muhtar), Mr Mehmet Dilek, stated that in 1994 security forces had carried out an operation against terrorists in the region and that there had been clashes between security forces and terrorists one kilometre away from the village over a 24-hour period. He stated that he was sure that the house had been destroyed as a result of these clashes but he did not know by whom. Mr Şükrü Taylan stated that the house had been destroyed as a result of the clashes between security forces and terrorists. Mr Yusuf Yıldız stated that the applicant’s house had been destroyed because terrorists used to stay there. Mr Ali Gür stated that the house had been burned down on the ground that there might have been terrorists inside.
18.  The investigation into the destruction of the applicant’s house is pending before the Chief Public Prosecutor’s office at the Diyarbakır State Security Court since the perpetrators are still unknown.